What Blum needed next was a repu- table distributor, like one founded in 1898 that signed a distribution agree- ment with Anheuser-Busch in 1934. “I then started doing research on dis- tributors and came across a company called L. Knife & Son. They’re part of the Sheehan Family Companies and happen to be based in southeast Mas- sachusetts. They deliver to 18 states and about 200 shops in Massachu- setts alone. So I called Tim Sheehan, their General Manager, and I said, ‘You don’t know me, I don’t know you, but here’s my story, here’s my back- ground. I don’t have a brewed beer yet, but I’ve created a brand, the story, the marketing plan, and I’ve hired a brewer. Would you take us on?’” Mr. Sheehan was fascinated by the story and encouraged by Blum’s reputation. He was won over, but he had one stipulation: “You’ve got to make a great beer.” After signing a contract with Mercury Brewing Company in Ipswich, Massachusetts to brew the three Bad Martha Beer recipes at the Ipswich Ale Brewery, it quickly became clear that Blum had lived up to his side of the deal. “We’d planned on being profitable in three years; but we were profitable in the first season. We’ve doubled our output every year since we began in June 2013 and this year it looks like we’re on track to double again. We expect to sell 40,000 cases in the 650 Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island locations Bad Martha Beer is available,” Blum explains. The sales force of our distributor, L. Knife & Son, is incredible. Tim Sheehan and I have become great friends and he has become a mentor to me in this challenging business. Each year we sit down in late fall and finalize a business plan for the succeeding year. My overall goal is to continue to double every year.” The feedback Bad Martha’s Beer is getting is not confined to New England brewers, distributors, and beer lovers. Blum’s beers have been much celebrated at international festi-
vals and markets. At the 2015 Great International Beer Festival, Bad Martha Beer took home a silver medal in the Light Ale-Golden category for their Vineyard Summer Ale and bronze medals in the Brown-Porter and Belgian-Saison cat- egories for their Roscoe’s Brown Ale and Belgian Blonde respectively. At the same festival in 2014, the efforts of then Brew Master Jim Carleton were recog- nized with three gold medals: One for Martha Vineyard’s Ale in the ESB (Extra Special Bitter) category, one for their Export Lager in the Dortmunder category, and one for their Pumpkin Pie Bock in the Fruit & Spice category. If you’re finding even the names of these medalist beers tantalizing you’ll be packing a suitcase for the Vineyard after you read this: Jacobi Reid, Carleton’s former apprentice and now Master Brewer, brewed 28 different beers using the on-site seven-barrel system this summer at the Bad Martha’s Farmer’s Brewery in Edgartown, most of which are brewery only offerings. “The Jalapeño Cucumber Kolsch, which is 6% alcohol by volume, is really a hit,” Blum says. “Every beer is made with local ingredients and that means anything from beach plums to blueberries, wild cherries, island organic chocolate, camomile, rosemary, organic honey – there’s a honey farm on the island – and coffee that’s roasted on the island.” “So, I basically combined my passion for beer and my years of marketing experience.” “The list just goes on. We use a lot of local ingredients – and that’s helping local businesses and farmers. Our grapes and grains are sourced from local farmers and I’m even in the midst of discussions to have barley planted and farmed here on Martha’s Vineyard for the first time since Colonial America.” While you taste the beers at the Bad Martha’s Farmer’s Brewery you can even look out over your jar or mug and see growing samples of the very ingredi- ents you’re drinking. And why not order an oven roasted pub sandwich to fuel for the duel that is Trivia Night at the BMFB? But make sure to go to goo.gl/ VtBfb4 before you compete. Blum and his team are very proud of their home base. The brewery in Edgartown is an Amish post and beam structure shipped directly from Pennsylvania and I’d bet you jar of Twin Sirens that a question would come up on Trivia Night asking how long it took to raise the building. The answer, not to mention the video, is unforgettable. According to badmarthabeer.com, Bad Martha’s Farmer’s Brewery offers an experience akin to winery tasting rooms in the Napa Valley where all of the beer on tap is available to sample free first. There’s even a winter brew that uses fresh oysters right out of Katama Bay.
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OCTOBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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